Man arrested in kidnapping of woman, 54

A 31-year-old man was charged with kidnapping a woman yesterday afternoon from in front of a Glen Burnie medical office and forcing her at knifepoint to drive to a nearby motel, county police said.

The incident began about 1:30 p.m. when police said a man approached Florence Louise Moody, 54, as she sat in her car and read a newspaper in front of the Crain Highway Medical Office, in the 1400 block of Crain Highway.

Police said the man threatened Ms. Moody with a knife and forced her to drive to an undisclosed motel, where he instructed her to beep the horn several times to alert two of the suspect's friends.

When no one came, the woman grabbed her purse, ran from the car and called police. A few minutes later, an officer saw the victim's 1985 Ford Tempo stopped on Oak Manor Drive. Police stopped the car, arrested the driver and found a folding knife in the suspect's pants pocket, authorities said.

Paul Joseph Ricenour, 31, of no fixed address, was charged with carjacking and kidnapping.

Two men charged with eight break-ins

County police have charged two men with breaking into eight business in the Glen Burnie area during the last month.

Theodore Edward Hohman, 22, and Donald Lee Wheeler, 24, both of the 400 block of Old Stage Road in Glen Burnie, were arrested Monday after officers were called to their apartment by a neighbor complaining of noise, police said.

Investigators said the two men were suspects in several break-ins along Crain Highway. When they were questioned by detectives, the men admitted to eight commercial burglaries, police said.

They also admitted breaking into the apartment below theirs, police said. The occupant of that apartment reported that someone stole 250 compact discs and other property valued at $2,400, police said.